This month it is my turn to buy the milk and biscuits at work. Everyone takes a turn and, for that month, whoever is charged with the task doesn’t have to pay their subs.
It’s actually a bit of a faff. People are very picky. They demand certain biscuits and they have milk preferences too. Keeping the biscuit tin and the fridge stocked up with the right kind of milk can be very stressful. There is also the nuisance of having to remember to go to the shops before it runs out (particularly if, like me, shopping is not normally in your daily routine). I shall be glad when my month is over…
Anyway, whilst standing in the queue at Sainsbury’s, waiting to pay for three packs of choc chip cookies, three packs of Hob Nobs, six litres of semi-skimmed and six litres of skimmed milk, I was put in mind of the old days at primary school, where we used to have milk monitors.
I doubt that these exist now – do they even hand out milk anymore? I don’t expect so….
Years ago, we got free milk every day. Little glass bottles, miniatures of the pint bottles left on our doorsteps. This was in the sixties, when I was very young. In those days you could get different coloured foil tops on milk – silver, red and gold. Gold top was full cream, I know that and we didn’t get that in school. I think we just got the silver top which I think was full fat and then the red top came in later, as semi-skimmed. I’ve looked this up and there are a lot of different answers so I can’t be sure now!!! There was also the special christmas foil top with little holly leaves on it I recall.
Anyway, the milk used to sit there by the door until break time and whoever was milk monitor handed it out. In the summer, therefore,it was disgusting, warm and sickly. I hated it. In fact I’m surprised I can even drink milk now, along with millions of other children who grew up experiencing the trauma of having to drink slightly-off milk!! I only drink skimmed milk now and I’m sure this is why!
So here I am again, the milk monitor for January. I miss those dinky little glass bottles. Even though they made me feel sick….
The Flossie Country Files 
You could be right about Jubblies rather than jubilees but you must remember that I couldn’t read or write until I was 15 🙂 Yes we had the desks with the hole in them for the ink wells too and who remembers the milk men that sold orange juice in the same sized miniature bottles that the school milk came in ?
Ooh, I had forgotten about the mini orange bottles!!!
I remember the little glass milk bottles so well, and yes sometimes the milk went off in the Summer. Somebody mentioned straws but we didn’t get them until the triangular/pyramid milk cartons came out after the bottles were discontinued! I remember at roughly the same time the pyramid cartons came out that shops were selling an ice pyramid shaped drink in cartons similar to our milk cartons which were called jubilees. Also at the same time the milk bottles were discontinued our ink and ink wells were phased out in favour of biro pens. Such happy memories 🙂
I remember the Jubilee drinks!! I thought they were called Jubblies though. Ha ha. Ink and ink wells were gone before I reached school but we still had the desks with the ink wells in them……
This must be a cultural thing. No one brings milk to the office in Connecticut. ever.
Well, if we had a machine for our coffee and tea, neither would we. But this is England. We aren’t that civilised here. 😀
I hated milk anyway but that milk at the school was the worst. It used to take me so long to drink it I never got to playtime.
and your work thing sounds awful! I should never cope…
It was disgusting, wasn’t it? And they would make you sit there until you had drunk all of it!! If only we had Childline in those days….
A whole month? We have kitchen duty for a week (which only consists of milk buying; not biscuits) and I complain bitterly about that. I think it’s because I don’t use the milk at work and I don’t really go shopping so I have to make a special trip and that makes me grouchy. As for the milk monitor? I have no recollection. Although I recall my mother saying something about getting warm milk when she was young.
I think it depends how old you are. I don’t know when they stopped handing out the milk….I am glad that someone feels my pain on being the one who has to buy the milk! I only drink skimmed so I forget all about the semi-skimmed and then I get moaned at.
U forgot to mention the paper straws lol……………I remember it all as u do~seeing as we are the same age…x.
I did forget the straws and I meant to mention them! Thank you for reminding me! 🙂